“The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations.
Parallel Translations
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“The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations.
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And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
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And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute for ever throughout your generations.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Numbers 10:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 31:6 Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
- Joshua 6:4-16 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the city wall shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.” Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh’s ark.” They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh’s ark.” It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of Yahweh’s covenant followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went. Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” So he caused Yahweh’s ark to go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp, and stayed in the camp. Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up Yahweh’s ark. The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of Yahweh’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after Yahweh’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went. The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days. On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times. At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!
- 1 Chronicles 15:24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before God’s ark; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
- 1 Chronicles 16:6 with Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.
- 2 Chronicles 13:12-15 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers; for you will not prosper.” But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them; so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them. When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout. As the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain So that only the Priests must blow the trumpets,…
So that only the Priests must blow the trumpets, so long as the Priesthood lasted.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests,…
Num 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Ver. 8. Shall blow with the trumpets.] A trumpeter, as one observeth, winds his trumpet with his mouth, and holds it up with his hand: so should a minister both preach and practise; vivere concionibus, concionari moribus.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The sons of Aaron shall blow, to oblige them…
The sons of Aaron shall blow, to oblige them to the greater regard and observance, as if God himself had called them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow…
And the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with the trumpets,.... Eleazar and Ithamar, the one with the one and the other with the other, there being at first but two, as there were but two priests; but in Solomon's time there were an hundred twenty priests, and as many trumpets, Ch2 5:12; hence Maimonides says (l), there were never fewer than two trumpets, nor more than an hundred twenty:
and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations: for they were not only for present use, for the journeying of the camps in the wilderness, but for calling together the assembly in later times, as well as for other uses next mentioned; which would obtain in future ages till the coming of Christ, and even under the Gospel dispensation the mystical use of them continues, the preaching of the everlasting Gospel.
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(l) Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 3. sect. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The sons of Aaron - As the trumpets were…
The sons of Aaron - As the trumpets were emblematic of the voice of God, the priests only were to use them. At this time there were only two “sons of Aaron;” but in later times, when the number of priests was greater, more trumpets were used; we read of seven in the times of Joshua and David (see the marginal references.); and of a hundred and twenty in that of Solomon 2Ch 5:12.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Priests. God’s officers and heralds. Curtius (3) observes, that…
Priests. God’s officers and heralds. Curtius (3) observes, that among the Persians at day-break, the signal was given from the king’s tent by sound of trumpet.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with…
the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with the trumpets, &c.--Neither the Levites nor any in the common ranks of the people could be employed in this office of signal giving. In order to attract greater attention and more faithful observance, it was reserved to the priests alone, as the Lord's ministers; and as anciently in Persia and other Eastern countries the alarm trumpets were sounded from the tent of the sovereign, so were they blown from the tabernacle, the visible residence of Israel's King.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. The priests, shall blow — And they alone,…
8. The priests, shall blow — And they alone, in the giving of the signals in this statute, and they were to preserve these trumpets and use them in all future generations in the manner described by this law.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall…
(8) And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets.—As Aaron had only two sons at this time, there was need only of two trumpets. In most of the places in which the word hazozerah (trumpet) occurs (as, e.g., Num_31:6; 1Ch_15:24), this instrument appears to have been used by the priests. There are cases, however, in the later history (as 2Ki_11:14; 1Ch_16:42), in which the trumpets appear to have been used by the Levites, and perhaps by those who were neither priests nor Levites. The number of these trumpets was increased in the time of David and Solomon. We read in 1Ch_15:24 of seven priests blowing with them before the ark of God, and in 2Ch_5:12 of one hundred and twenty priests blowing with them. Josephus says that Solomon made 200,000 trumpets, according to the command of Moses (Antiq., Book 8, chap. 3).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow. It…
The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow. It was natural that they should be made responsible for the custody and use of these trumpets, not because their sound represented the voice of God, but because they were used for religious purposes, and could only be safely kept in the sanctuary. An ordinance forever. The accustomed formula for some sacred institution which was to have a permanent character and an eternal meaning. (cf. Exo_12:24) The truth of these words cannot be exhausted by an actual use of 1500 years, followed by complete disuse for 1800 years. The "ordinance" of the silver trumpets must be perpetuated "forever" in the gospel, or else the Divine word has failed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:8 Only the priests . . . are allowed…
10:8 Only the priests . . . are allowed to blow the trumpets: All uses of these trumpets were related to God and his government of Israel, both of which the priests served.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.